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Remember when the Victorian Government was closing local pools because they weren’t making money?
It was said that the late comedian John Clarke commented that this did not bode well for footpaths – because footpaths are something that the community enjoys but they don’t return any direct profits.
I often think about his comment when I’m trying to use a footpath and bump into something that is there to make a profit.
Sometimes it is a protective wall around a property developer’s construction site, leaving no useful space to pass.
Often it is a food delivery e-bike zooming past, or a dumped e-scooter. Obviously there’s demand for property developments, deliveries and hired scooters.
It has been informative seeing councillors across inner-city Melbourne who say they support disability community inclusion welcome scooters, holding good faith that multinational corporations will respect community access and safety in public space.
Seeing so many disabled folk displaced from footpaths by private businesses feels particularly disappointing in the context of access barriers to public transport and taxi/ride shares.
Lefty decision makers might not see their approach to scooters as neo-liberal, but private profits for public cots seems to be the heartbeat of Melbourne scooter hire.
In 2024 the City of Melbourne banned e-scooters after seeing health costs and clean-up fees.
In March 2025 the Yarra City Council voted to raise fees for scooter operators.
Many people with disabilities will be keenly involved in Merri-Bek Council’s community consultation on scooters coming up in Autumn 2025.
Shane Hryhorec is a disability advocate who has done so much to raise the profile footpath discrimination, taking Yarra Council to VCAT.
The work of advocates like him links back to the early days of the disability rights movement.
Stories from the USA include axes being taken to gutters to create curb-cuts, making way for them to become standard in many countries.
It looks like we've come full-circle, back to advocating for footpath access.